Members of the Federal House of Representatives on Thursday revved up their moves to evade legal prosecution for their actions while in office, via the introduction of an immunity clause into the Nigerian Constitution for members of both the upper and lower legislative chamber.
The bill, titled A Bill for an Act to Guarantee Freedom of Speech and Legislative Actions of Members of the National Assembly, scaled the second reading, and was subsequently referred to the Ad Hoc committee on Constitution Review for further legislative action.
Chairman House Committee on Media and Publicity, Hon. Zakari Mohammed and Hon.
Raphael Igbokwue led the line of legislators who spoke on the bill, in addition to Hon. Ali Ahmed, sponsor of the bill, which was unanimously supported by members.
They argued that the bill give the lawmakers freedom of speech on debates and proceedings in both legislative houses, and that none of their verbal or written comments while performing legislative duties would be questioned in any court of law, including other places outside the Parliament.
According to Zakari Mohammed, who argued that the intent of the bill is not self-serving as widely believed by the public, parliamentarians in at least 10 countries around the world, such as Tanzania, United Kingdom, United States, Malaysia and Indonesia, currently enjoy the kind of constitutional coverage being sought by the bill.
